Safe.



N0. 735,588.' v PATENTBD AUG. 4, 1903. W. H.. REYNOLDS & G. P. -MEILINK.

SAFE.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY a1, 1902.

N0 MODEL.4

UNITED ASfrn'rns Patented. August 4, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE. l

WILLIAM H. REYNOLDS AND CHARLES F. MEILINK, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, .ASSIGNORS TO THE MEILINK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 735,588, dated August 4, 1903.

, Application filed May 31, 1902. Serial No. 109,759. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. REY- NoLDs and CHARLES F. MEILINK, citizens of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have in! vented cert-ain new and useful Improvements in Safes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

It is a further object to obtain a construe` tion in which the safe will continue to be Waterproof whenever closed, even after it has been used for a long period of time.

The invention therefore consists in the peculiar means employed for packing the joint between the door and its jamb; further, in the means for drawing the door to its seat whenever closed, and, further, in the peculiar construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, as more fullyhereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a horizontal section through a portion of the safe, showing the door` slightly opened. Fig. 2 is a similar section showing the door tightly closed and packed. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of a portion of. the door, showing the manner of securing the packing thereto. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the inner face of the door, and Fig. 5 illustrates the manner of forming the jointk in the packing-ring. Y

A is a safe-body, which maybe of any suitable construction, except as hereinafter set forth. As shown, it is formed bypan inner metallic casing o. and an outer casing b, while the space c between said casings is filled with some suitable non-heat-conducting material, such as asbestos cement. The front of the body is formed by a casting B, to which the metallic casings a and b are joined and upon which the door-jamb is formed. The latter is of the usual construction, consisting of the steps d, e, and f, against which corresponding steps upon the door are adapted to seat.

C is the door. This is also preferably in the form of an annular casting having thereon the steps g and h, corresponding, respectively, to the steps e and'f on the jamb. The front of the door is formed by a plate i, preferably of sheet metal, While the inner face is formed byasimilar plate j. In between these plates the space k is iilled with packing material similar to that used in the body of the safe.

D represents hinges arranged at one edge of the door and connecting the same to the body.

E is a packing or gasket employed for rendering the safe waterproof.` This is in the form of an endless ring of elastic material and arranged so that inthe closed position of the door it will be compressed between one of the steps on said door and the corresponding one on thejamb; As a matter of convenience in constructionthegasketEispreferablysecured to the door; butit is obvious that it would be equally effective if secured to the jamb. The gasket E is preferably formed of a strip of elastic material, such as rubber,secured to' the doorin the following manner: One of the steps, such as h, has formed therein a groove Z, which extends completely therearound. For convenience in cutting this groove it may be formed by four separate grooves milled or otherwisecut longitudinally of the four sides of the step h and extending yfrom end to end thereof. These grooves will intersect at the corners, so as to form one continuous groove extending around the step. The gasket Eis then secured in position byinserting one edge of the strip from which it is formed into the groove Z and extendingit around until acomvplete circuitis made and the ends of the strip overlap. These overlapping ends are beveled and are cemented together to forman endless ring of the gasket. When the gasket is se'- cured in position,the projecting portion thereof will be free to be compressed between the steps h and f when the door is closed. The gas- V ket E projects su'iciently beyond the steps 72,

to interfere with the free closing of the door against its jamb. It is therefore necessary to provide some means by which the door may be easily drawn to its closed position against the resiliency of the gasket. The means shown consists in a handle F, secured to the free edge of the door and having an inwardly-extending shank G. Thisshankis screw-threaded and is adapted to engage with a correspondingly screw-threaded socket H, formed in the casing B. The handle F is loosely journaled in the door, so that when the latter is nearly closed the shank G will enter into engagement with the socket H, the looseness of the bearing permitting said shank to assume a position of exact alinement with its socket. By then turning the handle F the shank may be screwed into the socket, with the result that the door will be completely closed against the resistance of the gasket E and tightly compressing the latter between the steps 7l andf. When closed, the safe may be locked by any suitable means, which, however, forms no part of the present invention.

From the description given it will be readily understood that a perfectly Water-tight joint is formed, inasmuch as the gasket E is endless and has all portions thereof tightly compressed between the adjacent steps. It will be further understood that each time the safe is closed an equally tight joint may be formed, for the reason that the door may be drawn to dierent positions by the screwing of the shank G. Thus should the gasket become worn or partially lose its elasticity it is only necessary to turn the handle a little farther.

As the safe is frequently subjected to both fire and water test, it is desirable that the gasket E should be to some extent protected from the heat. This is accomplished by placing it upon the inner step h, and which is a sucient distance from the exterior surface to prevent destruction of waterproof character of the gasket even when the safe is highly heated.

Although we have described the gasket as being placed upon one of the steps, all portions of which are in the same plane, it is obvious that it may be placed upon one of the inclined portions, although this construction is not desirable.

What we claim as our invention is- A fire and water proof closure for safes comprising the jamb and door members the opposing surfaces of which are stepped to properly intert, the door member being adapted to t into the jamb member with the outer surface of said door approximately flush with the outer surface of said jamb member, the surface of one of the intermediate steps of one of said members being fiat and the corresponding step of the inner surface of the other member also being flat and provided with a continuous relatively shallow groove extending around the same and but partly therethrough, the corners of the groove being formed by the intersection of a plurality of contrarily-disposed independent grooves each extending entirely across the surface of said member and across the adjoining grooves at right angles thereto, and a continuous thin elastic packing-strip arranged with its edge secured in said groove and having a free unconfined portion projecting outwardly therefrom, said strip extending completely around the member to which it is attached, a handle for the door, and means associated with said handle for forcing the door into the jamb whereby the free unconned portion of the elastic packing-strip is upset and compressed therebetween to constitute au effectual seal against the ingress of fire or water at any point around the door.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

VILLIAM H. REYNOLDS. CHARLES F. MEILINK.

Witnesses:

L. B. UNLAND, WILLIAM H. MCGELLAMP. 

